Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul, an unlikely political pairing, joined forces at a Brooklyn rally Sunday to attack President Trump and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
The two Democrats appeared at a get-out-the-vote event in Crown Heights, where Mamdani highlighted his partnership with Hochul and credited the governor with helping direct $1.2 billion toward universal child care.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, also warned that Blakeman would dismantle the program if elected governor.
“We are living in the most expensive city in the United States of America. We are trying to bring costs down for New Yorkers…and we have a Republican candidate who is to say if he’s to win he will cancel universal childcare,” Mamdani told the crowd at Medgar Evers College’s Edison O. Jackson Auditorium.
“He is telling New Yorkers that if he was the governor they would have to pay more to raise a child in the city. I have no idea which consultant he sat down with and said, ‘That’s a winning message,’ but that’s the one he decided on,” Mamdani said.
“We want a city where you can hear kids. That’s a city we are fighting for. If this was a Bruce Blakeman rally, they’d be like, ‘Get this kid out of here. We don’t want childcare for him,’” he added, thanking the children who attended the event.
Hochul, a more moderate Democrat who has joined forces with the left-leaning mayor despite their political differences, was greeted by chants of “four more years.” She then took aim at Blakeman, calling him “next level crazy.”
The governor made clear, however, that the race was about more than her Republican challenger. She also criticized Trump over attacks on election integrity and rising gas prices.
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“He’s trying to undermine our elections right now so people don’t have the confidence that their vote is protected,” Hochul said.
She also pointed to Blakeman’s pledge to bring “Trump-style leadership to Albany.”
“The reason I am telling you all this is because people say, ‘oh you’re just running against Donald Trump,’ Yeah, I do that in my spare time,” Hochul said.
“What I am also doing is letting them know the contrast between what records of accomplishment look like and feel like, and real change for New York families for someone who loves to fight for New York families. And that is me,” she continued.
“We are not surrendering to a king. We never have and we never will.”
Whether Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America allies will turn out for Hochul on Nov. 3 remains uncertain. The governor is seeking a second four-year term against Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive.
Mamdani and Hochul have endorsed each other’s campaigns and have appeared together at several news conferences. Mamdani also released a campaign ad supporting Hochul this month.
The pair first campaigned together in Brooklyn on Friday, appearing at McCarren Park.
Blakeman has meanwhile called Hochul Mamdani’s “puppet” and criticized her over New York’s sanctuary policy, which protects migrants.